American drop bomb mouse

In order to prevent brown snakes from raging on Guam, US environmental officials plan to drop dead mice poisoned with poison.

The snake-killing mouse project is expected to begin in March or April, in which dead mice will be impregnated with acetaminophen, the main active ingredient in analgesics common to humans but toxic to snakes. brown tree.

According to NBC News, mice will be released from helicopters into dense forests where this snake is most concentrated. The first goal will be the neighborhood of Andersen air base, which is surrounded by a dense vegetation.

Brown tree snake in Guam. (Photo: AP)

The brown snake snake was accidentally brought to Guam at the end of World War II on American military ships. Over the past 60 years, they have become a major cause of the gradual extinction of a native bird on the island.

Currently there are about two million brown tree snakes in Guam. They not only sabotage the wild environment but also bite people, even destroy power lines and phones. They release venom into their prey but do not kill humans.

Brown snakes are usually about a meter long, but can also grow to a length of 3 meters.

"The situation in Guam is unique , " said William Pitt, a biologist at the National Wildlife Research Center in Hawaii, the US Department of Agriculture. "There is no place in the world where there is a snake problem like Guam."

Wildlife officials are concerned that any natural rivalless snake on the island will one day spread to other Pacific islands, especially Hawaii, about 6,400 kilometers east of Guam, through the plane path.

A 2010 study by the National Center for Wildlife Research said that brown-tree snakes could cause economic losses from nearly $ 600 million to more than $ 2.1 billion a year, if they spawn in Hawaii. with the same level as Guam.

According to Pitt, about 2,000 mice will be given as bait for brown tree snakes. The goal of this project is not to eradicate but to prevent and control the number of brown tree snakes on Guam.